Happy Halloween Everyone!!!

Have a safe time Trick or Treating this all hallows evening...

A Recent Pencil Sketch of the Frankenstein Monster

...beware all the things out there in the darkness and just incase...

"From ghoulies and ghosties and long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night, may the good Lord deliver us."

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 31st

Digital Painter Required…

Artist required for Tim’s Markosia Project.

Hi Guys,

I am currently pencilling an NDA protected project for UK publisher Markosia and I am looking for a digital paint artist to paint the project. I will be producing a page of finished digitally painted colour artwork for the artist to work from as a guide to what we want the finished job to look like.

Time restrictions for me with my present schedules are going to prevent me from being able to produce the full paint job myself.

Anyone interested in trying out for the work, please send me an email via the Wizards Keep website:

www.wizards-keep.com

Please also include a link to your work and if I find the right person for the job, we’ll talk, after which I will pass on your details to Harry for final approval and for him to have you also sign an NDA (Non-Disclosure-Agreement) and discuss deadlines etc.

I will be in touch ASAP so please be patient. I will contact everyone even if you don’t get the work, so again please just wait to hear, I promise I will be in touch.

Please don’t message me here on the Blog as I will only reply or look at the links given to me through the actual official Wizards Keep website.

Looking forward to hearing back from you guys soon and Good Luck.

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 29th 2007

Deadlines and Cream Cakes…

When deadlines loom and even burning the perennial candle isn’t enough…

I thought I would share this with you guys for a light-hearted look at the inner sanctums of the world of comic books. As you are now no doubt aware, unless this is your first time here looking at my Blog, I am producing artwork for Toontastic’s Hot Wheels comic and running this and a couple of other projects alongside my “Worlds End” graphic novel.

With this in mind I would like you to firstly picture my last month’s delivery of the pages to the publishing house. The Birmingham convention was coming around and I was trying to turn around some more pages for Markosia, but the dreaded deadline was getting closer for the second batch of Hot Wheels pages.

Nowadays, in this digital age, I usually send off artwork on disc to the client, but it was quicker due to the recent postal strikes for me to return to my old mode with this particular publisher, as they are reasonably close to where I live, and that was to hand deliver them.

I had been having a laugh with Rob Sharp who was dealing with the issue in question as James Hill was away on holiday, something I said should become a sackable offence especially in light of producing an all-nighter or two to complete the pages on time. As a joke I had said that seeing as how the pages would be hand delivered and James was away I would be bringing along cream cakes, something he never expected me do in reality.

So when I took the pages along I did so accompanied by a couple of cream cakes, to continue the joke, much to Rob’s surprise…although let it be noted here, it was never in doubt as to whether they would be accepted or not by Rob…I could tell right from the off my ploy to butter him up was a success as he was drooling incessantly all the way though the conversation in the Toontastic office, until I left. In fact I was hurriedly rushed out, as soon as the pages passed hands, if truth were told, with Rob running back to his desk as the door closed behind me presumably to consume the said cakes and certainly not to begin lettering – although I am sure this was indeed second on his list.
;))

Now picture, if you will this month’s issue being worked on by me last week and a phone call from James to ask when he could expect the pages and would I be delivering them by hand again as he had heard about the cakes, something I had had Rob swear to secrecy…now here’s the hook for this tale…

So I said yes and arranged for the pages to be in by Monday of this week…originally it was to be Friday last, but I would not be finished until Friday evening, too late to get them to them on the day, although I could have sent them via Special Delivery the next day for them to arrive on Monday morning.

Well as Rob would not be starting lettering them until Monday anyhow and there were the cream cakes to consider James said this would be fine.

The moral to this tale is, when deadlines are looming guys take it from me you can always find a unique way of corrupting the system and making it work for you. This just proves anyone can be bought…I just wish I had thought of this ploy years ago, when deadlines rose their head in my studio, when I first entered the wacky world of comics…

So, my advice, next time a deadline approaches, give your editors a call and offer them cakes…it works for me…

BTW: Just in case anyone is wondering about this particular light-hearted Blog, James said it would be a fun Blog to write and it also proves and shows that editors like most comics folks are fun guys to be around, even when the crunch happens to be around the corner.

Trouble is what happens when cakes are no longer enough…hmmm food for thought…
;))

Thanks to James and Rob for keeping comics fun to work in…if it wasn’t for James I might never have returned to comics at all…

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 24th 2007

Congratulations…

Comic Artist Dave Taylor and his good lady Pauline have a daughter…

I thought this news that has just got to me well and truly deserved a new Blog. When I saw Dave and Pauline last we were at the Bristol Comics Convention, earlier this year and they were expecting their first child together. Well now they have just had a baby girl. I haven’t heard yet what they are calling her, but over on Dave’s Blog you can find a beautiful picture and a few words from the proud Dad, himself.

Whilst we are speaking of Dave, check out his Blog, there are some wonderful pieces of artwork on it. I first met Dave in the mid nineties at a UKCAC Comics Convention, just before I went out to the states to work for Jim Shooter’s Defiant Comics and then later at the New York Comic Convention. Dave picked up work from Jim at the convention and we worked together on a War Dancer comic. Unfortunately the book never saw print, as the company became a victim to the mid-nineties American comics implosion of ’94.

The work has never been seen outside of the folks at Defiant and I don’t think Dave saw the finished pages after I had painted them, so they could well become the subject of a Blog soon.

Congratulations go out once again to Dave, Pauline and the new addition to the family from all here at the Keep!!!

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 19th 2007

Birmingham Comics Convention…

A Review of the weekend’s events…

Well I arrived on Friday late afternoon, early evening, meeting up with Jon Haward and going along for a steak at a wonderful nearby Italian restaurant and then on to the launch party at Bennett’s arranged by BICS and Markosia, which was great. Hunt Emerson and his band played music for a good hour or so and Michael Wright’s band all the way from America, also entertained the comic crowd.

The weather held off for us, over the two days I was there, which was great and I hope this continued on the Sunday too. In fact it was incredibly warm all the time I was down there in Birmingham.

It was great to meet up with folks again. I managed to chat, if only briefly to some, amongst them to Jon Haward, Lew Stringer, Mike Collins, Harry Marcos, Mike Molcher, Staz Johnson, at last after many years without doing so aside from the Internet, John McShane, whom I must say had me in stitches whenever we talked and I look forward to doing so again, Jim Stewart, Bryan Talbot, Lee Townsend, Clive and the gang at Classic Comics, Andrew Wildman and the guys at NCSoft, Sean Phillips, Charley Adlard, Dougie Braithwaite, Lawrence and Robin Etherington, Tony Lee, whom I met for the first time, our only other chats being via email and the networks on the Internet, Lewis Costello, one of my students on the FAU course, Kev F. Sutherland, Happy Birthday again Kev, Laura Howell, whom again I met for the first time having only previously chatted via email, Dave Windett, Ferg Handley, and if I have missed anyone, please accept my apologies.

Unfortunately I missed a good number of folks, amongst them Liam Sharp, whom I had really wanted to chat to at this convention, but I am sure Bristol next year with afford me that privilege. I did see him briefly on the Saturday from distance, but this is often what happens at these kinds of events. Another artist Simon had arranged to catch up with me on the Saturday and again I am sure the next con will sort that too.

One thing I really did miss was the company of my wife Margaret, who was unable to attend this convention, hence the lack of photos this time around. She generally sorts me out with these things.
;))

I showed the Markosia job to Harry Marcos, and he is very happy with them so far. I plan to have the entire book laid out as soon as this latest Hot Wheels issue is finished later this week. We discussed some very exciting future projects and stuff so there’s plenty to expect from these guys over the next few months and next year.

I spent part of Saturday afternoon sketching for Andrew Wildman’s charity “Drawtheworldtogether”, which was great fun. I produced several sketch cards, including from memory, Hulk, Darkseid, Thor, Judge Dredd, The Beast from the original X-Men, and Conan, for auctioning and a full figure sketch for a fan of the games too. The highlight for me whilst on the stand was when a fan I recognised from my time as a comic artist before leaving the field for a while back in ’99, handed me a copy of Dark Dominion issue 5 to sign, which I thought was nice. It’s always great to see folks still looking at the stuff you did in the past as well as the new stuff.

There was a lot of interest in the “Worlds End” pages and my thanks go out to all those folks who stopped me and asked to see them and spoke to me at length about them in some cases. There was also a lot of interest in my new Hot Wheels pages as well and again my thanks go out to you folks that spoke to me about them.

Saturday night saw Jon Haward and myself going along to a nearby Thai restaurant across from Bennett’s. The food was superb and I would recommend that anyone going along to the next convention pay them a visit. It was a most enjoyable meal in a wonderful setting, with superb food served by wonderful staff, in a very relaxed atmosphere. I know both Jon and I will be returning next time.

The downsides and they are only minor and there’s not much that the organisers can do to solve this were:

1. The NCP car Park was about 20 – 30 minutes walk away from the Hotels, which is not ideal when you are carrying clothes and portfolios, etc.
2. The venue was a good ten to fifteen minutes away from the Hotels, which if the weather had been bad would have made things worse.
3. The signposting to the event building is almost non-existent as was the signage inside the venue itself.

The only thing that the organisers could do here is in regards the inner venue signage and I chatted to Paul Birch one of the organisers along with Jon to this effect. Paul said they had expected the venue to sort this, but obviously they didn’t, which was a shame. Something similar happened to me at an event I organised, but at least next time the guys can have this sorted. If someone builds a hotel nearby to the Millennium Point centre then all the above will be sorted, but like I say, this can’t be sorted by the BICS guys.
;))

Overall a truly enjoyable experience for me, but one, which had to be cut short, due to deadlines looming, with me leaving on the Saturday night after the meal and a brief drink of coke in Bennett’s again to say my goodbyes to the folks there.

Thanks to all the guys in the comics fraternity that took time to chat, sorry it was brief sometimes, but that’s conventions for you. See you all again soon.

Thanks to all involved in the organisation of the show, including Shane, Paul, James, and Andy…Well Done guys!

BTW: This was written upon my return in the early hours of Sunday morning, but there have been some issues with Blogger, which I have only just managed to sort, so sorry the Blog’s a little behind times now.

Check out Lew Stringer’s Blog for more photos and informative stuff!!!

In the meantime here are a few photos of my time at BICS…

Andrew Wildman and me share a joke with a fan

Jon Haward, Lew Stringer and John McShane at the Launch Party

Nigel Kitching and Nigel Dobbyn at the Launch Party

Jon Haward at his hotel

Andrew Wildman and me discussing the "Drawtheworldtogether" charity

Jon Haward takes a break from sketching for Classical Comics

Me sketching on the "Drawtheworldtogether" NCSOFT stand

2000AD website Guru Wakefield Carter

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 18th 2007

Lancaster Comics Convention 2007…

Bad News, but some good news too…

I have just received notification that this year’s Lancaster Comics Convention has been cancelled for a number of reasons.

I can only apologise to those of you who have been speaking to me about coming along to see us. I will still be attending this coming weekend’s Birmingham Comics Show and now seems an apt time to say that Wizards Keep will be attending Bristol Comics Expo 2008.

We will be displaying all our products at the show in one of the large booths. We are hoping to launch the figurines range there and have the graphic novel, if not quite finished almost ready and partly coloured and lettered by then.

It may seem a long ways off, but I have booked the booth way ahead of time with Mike Allwood, because May 2008 will soon be here…believe me.

Incidentally - Lancaster Comics `07 isn't quite dead…for the end of the half term week (Saturday 27th October) Anthony Mercer is running an event day, with a possible “Halloweeny” title "The Ghost of Lancaster Comics!” for some of the local kids.

Anthony is going to be running a monster design workshop, and there's a mini comic workshop, maybe a few traders coming along as well - but essentially, it’s a free event for visitors and anyone who wants to come along.

Wizards Keep have been invited to go along to the event and set a stand up. As it’s a little close to the Birmingham International Comics Show this weekend I am unsure whether we can attend, due to deadline constraints at the moment, but a decision will be made shortly, over the next week or so to see if time will allow us to attend. If we do manage to schedule this event into the diary then please everyone expecting to come along to Lancaster to see us do, by all means, come along if you fancy it.

If not, then maybe I can catch up with you guys this weekend or at Bristol next year.

For all the enquiries about attending events further afield around the world, no decisions have been made as yet, mostly due to production schedules and deadline commitments this next six to twelve months or so. Rest assured, however that as soon as the figurines are ready for sale and the “Worlds End” graphic novel goes to print then we will be attending more of the world conventions, shows, festivals and fairs.

Regarding the figurines, which I have talked about for a while, I attended a meeting a few weeks ago and spoke to the sculptors and manufacturer and I will be supplying turnaround artwork very soon for us to go into production sometime in the first half of 2008. This is great news and along with the release of the graphic novel, means Wizards Keep is now entering a new and very exciting phase of production.

One thing that will happen when we start production of the sculpting is we will have a semi-regular section on the Wizards Keep website to show photos of the production stage to keep you guys in the picture with what is being worked on.

A lot of you have also spoken to me in regards the Hall of Fame, which is still to be launched.

We are hoping this will take place during the Christmas 2007 and New Year 2008 period. Again the delay is due to the production schedule and my personal deadline commitments at the moment. I want this section to be something special, hence the delay…but it is looking great at the moment.
Well hopefully this update as to what is happening here as more than made up for the cancellation this year of the Lancaster convention. I believe the event will resurface again next year in 2008, but I will keep you guys posted.

For those going along to Birmingham, see you either on Friday at the launch party or else on Saturday at the show itself…

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 11th 2007

Birmingham Comics Convention…

I’ll be there, will you…?

Well this coming weekend, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th, sees the second Birmingham International Comics Show. There looks to be lots of things going on and there will be plenty of comics creators on hand to sign and sketch as usual.

I’ll be along on the Friday night for the Markosia launch party and Saturday only due to deadline commitments, but if you get a chance please feel free to come over and have a chat. I’ll have the latest artwork for Worlds End along with me for anyone that wishes to take a look, or if you have seen it before you are more than welcome to take another look.

I’ll also have some Hot Wheels pages with me.

Maybe catch you down there…

Until next time have fun!

Tim Perkins…
October 10th 2007